Q. Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that working class children underachieve because they are culturally deprived.

Do working class children underachieve because they are culturally deprived? Cultural deprivation is the notion that the underachievement of working class children in exams is a result of their home background and parent’s failure to socialize them into the skills and values required for educational success. The three aspects of cultural deprivation are: Intellectual development, Language and Attitudes and Values.

One of the aspects of cultural deprivation is Intellectual Development, which is the development of thinking and reasoning. Working class children may be less intellectually developed as their homes may lack books, educational toys and activities that stimulate their intellectual development. Douglas’ study found that working class pupils scored lower on tests of ability that middle class pupils, and due to this he argues that working class parents were less likely to read with their children thus stunting their intellectual growth and development. However, is has been argued by sociologists that cultural deprivation is not the only factor contributing to the underachievement of working class children, and that material deprivation and internal school factors may be just as important, if not more so, than cultural deprivation.

The second aspect of cultural deprivation is Language, which is the differences that exist in the language used by the middle class and the language used by the working class. Bernstein has identified two different types of language, separated into different ‘Speech Codes’. The Restricted Speech Code is the one most often used by the working class and can be identified by limited vocabulary, short sentences using simple grammar, single words or even just the use of gestures to